How to Hack Your Favorite Trader Joe's Foods

If the world ever decided to come up with a list of the happiest places on the planet, Trader Joe’s might just be on that list (right below Disneyland and your local pub). With Hawaiian shirt-clad employees, bell-clanging cashiers, and tiki-themed store signage, shopping at TJ’s can feel more like a joyous activity than a mind-numbing chore. At TJ’s, you’ll find a wall of cheese, funky frozen foods like Lemongrass Chicken Sticks and Mojito Salmon, and punny product names like “Inner Peas.”

But for all of its hits, TJ’s does have some foods that could use a little extra oomph. Take, for example, TJ’s Speculoos Cookie Butter. Don’t get us wrong—this stuff is delicious and addictive on its own—but when combined with TJ’s microwave popcorn and made into a Cookie Butter popcorn ball, it becomes the stuff of dreams.

We’re telling you to think outside the box when it comes to your favorite Trader Joe’s foods: Make garlic naan into bruschetta, turn pretzel sticks into Pocky, and take boxed cornbread and add jalapeños and beer. After reading this list of incredible home-cooking hacks, the frozen aisle at TJ’s will be a source of endless inspiration—we promise.

Here are 15 awesome tricks to take your favorite Trader Joe’s foods to the next level.

Turn TJ's Butternut Squash Soup into the best miso noodle soup ever

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5
How it works: TJ's butternut squash soup may be a healthy fix, but it can get to be a real bore. So pimp it out by adding miso paste and soba noodles, and then top the whole thing off with your favorite protein—like spicy, crispy fried pork sausage with ginger, hot pepper, and garlic.
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Make TJ's Garlic Naan into bruschetta pizza

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4
How it works: Take your dinner from Indo to Italian—Top TJ's garlic naan with chopped tomatoes, pesto, and crumbled cheese (à la bruschetta) and throw it in the oven for a quick bake.
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Make an Italian salad out of TJ's steamed lentils

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 1
How it works: It doesn't get simpler than this: Mix steamed lentils with TJ's bruschetta sauce, goat cheese, and chopped garlic for a flavorful salad that requires minimal effort (and goes great with pita chips).
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Give a boozy kick to TJ's Island Soyaki marinade

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: TJ's Island Soyaki marinade is pretty awesome to begin with, but why not take it to the next level? Beer is the secret ingredient in this elevated marinade recipe. Add in a healthy amount of your favorite brew, as well as honey, chopped garlic, green onions, and a dash of hot sauce and you're all set for some kickass meat and veg marination.
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Make dumpling soup out of TJ's Gyoza Potstickers

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 7
How it works: Make a Chinatown favorite right in your kitchen with TJ's gyozas, broth, soy sauce, and whatever vegetables you have on hand. The usual suspects like onions, carrots, spinach, peas, and garlic work perfectly.
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Toss TJ's vegetable masala burgers into a salad

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3
How it works: TJ's Vegetable Masala Burgers are one of the best things at Trader Joe's (second only to the Mandarin Orange Chicken), but they're a little too soft to do well on a burger bun. The good news is the masala burger patties are perfect chopped up and tossed into a green salad with tomatoes.
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Upgrade TJ's Channa Masala with chicken and peas

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5
How it works: Trader Joe's has a great frozen version of channa masala, an Indian chickpea dish that is chock-full of spices. The only problem we see with this frozen food is that it's vegetarian. But nothing's stopping you from giving it that protein kick by adding chicken. While you're at it, toss in some peas, spinach, or potatoes.
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Give a vegan twist to TJ's boxed cake mixes

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: Technically, there's nothing TJ-specific about this hack. We suppose that you could take any boxed cake mix and use the same trick to turn it vegan, but it works especially well with TJ's cake mixes. The trick? Replace the eggs with a vanilla or plain soy yogurt and follow the rest of the instructions on the box. Now vegans can have their cake and eat it too.
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Transform TJ's Honey Whole Wheat Pretzel into homemade Pocky

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: Take a pretzel out of the bag, dip it in melted chocolate, and slip it into the refrigerator. Repeat! There is no dessert more fun than this. Ok, ok, maybe a baked Alaska is more fun than this, but homemade pretzel Pocky is still pretty damn creative.
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Make Addictive popcorn balls with TJ's Speculoos Cookie Butter

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5
How it works: TJ's Speculoos Cookie Butter is the kind of thing you'll want to eat straight from the jar. With your fingers. And finish the whole jar in one go. But, if you can fight temptation long enough to make it into popcorn balls, the rewards are enormous. All you need is a bag of microwave popcorn, a jar of the spread, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract.
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Make beer-jalapeño cornbread from TJ's mix

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4
How it works: Chug some beer, then pour what's remaining in the bottle into TJ's cornbread mix, along with chopped jalapeños and the ingredients listed on the box. Then sit back, enjoy another beer, and wait for the scent of cornbread to fill the air.
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Make tacos with TJ's fish nuggets

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3
How it works: Cook the frozen fish nuggets according to the package instructions, layer the cooked nuggets on corn tortillas, and throw in a slaw made from shredded cabbage, mayo, lime juice, and cumin.
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Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5
How it works: TJ's Chinese-style barbecue pork is okay, but its flavor doesn't compare to the sweet-savory-garlicky Chinese roasted pork char siu, which is the product's obvious muse. But this is nothing a little tinkering can't fix. Slice the packaged pork against the grain into 1/4-inch-thick pieces, then toss them into a skillet, and top the pork with a mix of molasses, soy sauce, and a sprinkle of Chinese 5-spice powder.
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Pair TJ's lobster ravioli with a saffron cream sauce

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4
How it works: If you've gone ahead and purchased a packet of lobster ravioli, then you've already commited to being a baller. But why stop there? Whip up a fancy sauce to go with the ravioli using white wine, cream, shallots, saffron, cayenne, and chives.
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